ADR-007: Research Workspace Canonical First-Slice Shell

Status: Accepted Date: 2026-06-03 Backfilled from: Docs/Design/Workspace_Canonical_Model_Decision_2026_05.md, Docs/superpowers/specs/2026-05-06-tldw-product-roadmap-design.md, Docs/superpowers/plans/2026-05-06-tldw-product-roadmap-first-slice-implementation-plan.md Decision owner: Human requester approval of TASK-509 inventory defaults Related task: TASK-514 Related spec/plan: Docs/superpowers/plans/2026-06-03-adr-follow-up-sprint-implementation-plan.md

Decision

Use ResearchWorkspace as the canonical shell for the first roadmap slice while keeping ChatWorkspace and DocumentWorkspace as specialized routes or modes instead of deleting or fully merging them.

Context

The workspace roadmap needs one product model for sources, selected sources, chat, quick notes, generated artifacts, saved workspaces, source transfer, local persistence, and server sync boundaries. ResearchWorkspace already contains the broadest version of that model and is the best first-slice shell. ChatWorkspace and DocumentWorkspace still validate important workflows, but they should not define parallel product models during this slice.

The first slice should consolidate the model before consolidating routes. Route consolidation remains a later decision.

Alternatives considered

Option	Why rejected
Fully merge ChatWorkspace and DocumentWorkspace into ResearchWorkspace immediately	Too much route and workflow churn for the first slice; it risks breaking existing chat-first and document-focused flows before the shared model is stable.
Keep all three workspaces as independent product models	Creates duplicated state, divergent persistence semantics, and unclear roadmap ownership.
Create a new roadmap workspace from scratch	Duplicates existing ResearchWorkspace capabilities and delays first-value work.

Consequences

ResearchWorkspace owns the first-slice canonical workspace direction. ChatWorkspace and DocumentWorkspace remain available as specialized entry points or modes. Implementation plans should update the canonical model or write a new ADR before changing route ownership semantics.

Server sync should use the existing /api/v1/workspaces family first, while browser-local workspace state remains a responsive cache and offline-friendly UI surface.

Follow-up

• Use this ADR as the covering record for INV-017 and the route-consolidation context in INV-019.
• If later work fully merges or removes ChatWorkspace or DocumentWorkspace, create a superseding ADR.